Writing Prompt 7: Lion’s Head, Human Body
The Beast
As a child I loved these fairy tale illustrations by the artists Janet & Anne Grahame Johnstone found in my Gift Book of Fairy Tales. I still do. The curls of fur, the folds of the fabric and the elegant pose belong to a fantasy world that can only exist in our imaginations.
Or does it?
Write a story from the picture above, perhaps a story set in the past or maybe a story where imagination and reality collide. Should be fun!
The man climbed down into the hot tub, one step at a time, his back turned towards her.
The hair covering the large expanse of skin was thick and dark, curling into large swirls from his shoulders to the top of his low-slung swim shorts.
He reached the bottom and sank until the water covered his shoulders, the hair floating on top of the water. He walked slowly to the side, reaching out to find the ledge with one hand. He sat down and smiled at the small audience of five. As he sat his shoulders lifted out of the water and the hair flattened over his pale skin. Hot steam hovered around him silhouetting his shape against the sun in the cool afternoon air.
Charlotte tried to look but not look. She swished the water around in front of her and sank into the warm water, letting it bob around and under her chin. The man closed his eyes. Charlotte took a chance and stared, taking in all of the body before her. The hair on his chest reminded her of a satellite map of thunderstorms. Two tiny pink nipples hid in the thick dark hair. Hair so thick it looked like fur.
Charlotte had never seen a man who looked more like a beast before.
She closed her eyes, leaning back against the wall of the tub, a frown burrowing into her forehead. A bright light suddenly forced her eyes open and hot breath covered her face. She squinted into the sun. The man, the beast, had completely disappeared.
Story first posted November 2019 // Illustration by Janet & Anne Grahame Johnstone, Dean’s Gift Book of Fairy Tales, 1967.
